Spanish Sicily

Spanish Sicily (1409-1713) was a viceroyalty of the Kingdom of Castile and the Spanish Empire. United with the Crown of Aragon, Sicily was a part of Spain until the War of the Spanish Succession, when it was taken over by the Kingdom of Savoy. It was taken over from the Angevin Empire in 1443, ending the Kingdom of Naples, and was succeeded by the Holy Roman Empire puppet states of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily.

History
Sicily was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives or cadet branch of the house of Aragon until 1409 and thence as part of the Crown of Aragon. The Kingdom of Naples was ruled by the Angevin ruler René of Anjou until the two thrones were reunited by Alfonso V of Aragon, after the successful siege of Naples and the defeat of René on June 6, 1443. Eventually, Alfonso of Aragon divided the two kingdoms during his rule. He gave the rule of Naples to his illegitimate son Ferdinand I of Naples, who ruled from 1458 to 1494, and the rest of the Crown of Aragon and Sicily to Alfonso's brother John II of Aragon. From 1494 to 1503 successive kings of France Charles VIII and Louis XII, who were heirs of Angevins, tried to conquer Naples (see Italian Wars) but failed. Eventually the Kingdom of Naples was reunited with the Crown of Aragon. The titles were held by the Aragonese kings of the Crown of Aragon until the end of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg in 1700.

Sicily provided Spain with ports at Palermo and Messina, and was also lush with farmlands and olive oil. The province provided troops to Spain during its wars in Europe, such as the Thirty Years War. The province was lost in 1713 when the Kingdom of Savoy captured it from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1720, Savoy gave Naples and Sicily to the Holy Roman Empire.